Managing the Issues
by Yerron Yerrown
Summary: The reconciliation of Avery and Juliette
1. Chapter 1

I have no connection with any part of the Nashville Television series.

This is a pure figment of my imagination as there is very little information available concerning this situation. It is pretty much being created as I go. Basically, have a new idea, write something about it. There is no plan so I have no idea how long or how many chapters it will be. The only guideline is: when I exhaust my ideas then I will write an ending. I will make an excuse right at this point if the writing becomes verbose or vague. I do not have an editor and I am hopeless at the job. Fiction is an unfamiliar medium. I'm just doing this for a little fun.

The Reconciliation of Avery and Juliette.

**Managing the Issues.**

**Chapter 1.**

Juliette's anxieties concerned him but no more than his own. It had been four weeks since the breakup of their relationship over her infidelity with Jeff Fordham. That confrontation was tragic. She burst into his apartment at six in the morning demanding he give her an opinion or indication of a decision. She was distraught, he could see that, but her lack of consideration for his situation made him angry. It was ridiculous of her to think he could have formed any feasible idea after only a few hours. He had asked her for time to think but he needed weeks not hours. He interpreted her demands as extraordinarily selfish. She was only thinking of her own circumstances, no thought for his.

He was still too inebriated to make any sense of anything. He started drinking as soon as he got home in the early hours and now here she is, making demands and all he can think of is his head might explode due to this huge hangover induced headache. Worse still he had no restraint at all over his temper, not that he was a modicum of self control at the best of times.

She was holding him, begging forgiveness, pulling his head down to hers, kissing him, tears streaking her face. He was crying as well. He briefly returned her kiss and held her hands that were behind his neck. He lowered his head to her shoulder but for only a second because then the pain returned. The agony that ripped his heart, the heavy ache in his stomach and the clouded fog in his brain. He needed to hit back, let her feel what she made him feel. He drew her hands from behind his neck and let the anger speak through the tears, "Juliette, I need much more time to sort this out. I don't want to sound mean but right at this moment I can't stand the sight of you. You should leave." She was stunned, rooted to the spot, unable to speak, frozen. "Alright then," he said, "I'll leave." He picked up his satchel and jacket and walked out the door.

A few days later he thought about having hurt her through his anger. The remark of not being able to stand the sight of her was unnecessarily cruel. It also wasn't true. She had her pains she was struggling with as well. The truth is she is probably hurting just as much as he is, in fact, she is probably hurting more. She has a huge guilt issue to overcome. At least he doesn't have that. She doesn't need him to add to her grief no matter how much pain is being felt by both of them.

He opened his cell phone and sent her a text. "Hi Juliette, I'm sorry I told you I could not stand the sight of you. That is not true and I wish to apologize. I was angry at the time and I spoke without thought and through self pity. Please forgive my cruel remark. Avery."

Not five minutes later his phone chimed with a return text. "Dear Avery, I realized later that you spoke because of anger and hurt. I caused that and I deserved that remark. But I accept your apology and please know I forgive you as well. Would you please give me permission to text you maybe a couple of times a week? I miss you and a little contact would help me. I promise to not put any pressure on you but wait for your decision about us. Love Juliette."

He sent a return text, "Yes, limited contact would be OK." He kept it brief, he was not sure how he would respond to her so better to exercise a little restraint.

Here it was four weeks later and he had not overcome one iota of his feelings towards her. He had tried new associations with other women but that was hopeless. All he did was compare his new acquaintance to Juliette and they always came up well short. She had that spark, the fire, the spontaneity, the passion, her huge talent, how they just fitted her so well and how she just fitted him so well. None of these other women came close.

He gave up on that idea and tried a bottle. That didn't work either, besides it affected his Highway65 job. It was very unfair to the company for the main executive to be drunk half the time. His most frequent point of contact was in the bar up the street from the office. Rayna often sent him home, at least she understood. He could not write. He could not work in the studio. He had a run in with the police and it was only Rayna and Teddy's testimonies about his character that got him off with community service. This entire situation was sending everything about him to shit.

He needed help. Deacon told him whenever it got bad enough where he could find an ear. Well, he sure needed something so maybe some solid advice might do the trick.

"Hi Deacon," he said when Deacon opened his front door. "Got a bit of time? You volunteered the sponsor role and now I need one."

"Sure thing pal. Come in."

"Now," Deacon opened, "where do you want to start?"

"I can't get over Juliette. She did something terrible and I don't know what to do. I can't handle this and it's driving me crazy."

"Well," Deacon said, "I know what she did. She got stupidly drunk and screwed Jeff Fordham."

"How do know that?"

"She's been here as well. It seems I'm a mine of romantic and relationship advice. Maybe I should get a newspaper column. Mind you she was even worse than you are and she told me what happened."

"Well, you can see my dilemma. I'm pretty much screwed."

"Perhaps it can be solved but you have to understand a few things before that can happen. I can speak from personal experience here. I've had a relationship that I had been screwing up for thirteen years. I think I may have just solved it, but hell, thirteen years? I think we can make your trip a bit easier than that."

You and Rayna huh? You getting it worked out finally?"

"Yep, there are some things we're working on but it's all positive so far."

"So the first thing you need to recognize is the cause of your problem and that's simple," Deacon said. "The kind of love you two have will take a long time to die if ever. If you breakup permanently that decision could haunt you both for years, maybe even life. Just think of that, life! That's more than you get for murder. The fact is the problem isn't Juliette having sex with Fordham. That was just the end result. There are other relationship issues that caused this. In fact there are quiet a few of them. You two need to sort these out because they stem from personalities and personal experiences and until these are resolved you two will always be volatile. The fact is, for as long as you are both together you need to accept that crises of various types will occur from time to time. They are unavoidable. This has only been the first one. Your relationship needs to be so stable that you can both overcome any issue. If you don't then you will be doomed to suffer these kinds of situations for a long time.

"Well this is going to be too difficult for me. I can't handle emotional issues. I've got no idea what to do."

"Funny you say that," Deacon said. "Juliette said exactly the same thing. That day she came here she said she wanted to talk to you about what happened when you broke up. She said you told her to go but when she didn't move you walked out. Don't you see? That just makes the issue twice as bad. If you had talked about it you both might have made some headway. But you walked out so it all goes belly up and here you are four weeks later still in the same crap. That's what I mean, issues like that. They need to be sorted out and you have lots of them between you both."

Avery suddenly became aware Juliette may not be the only one with guilt issues, he may have them as well. He just didn't realize

"Yeah, well, how do I solve it? I've never been able to handle confrontations like that my whole life."

"Good God Barkley! For someone as smart as you are I've never met anyone as stupid. Since you have been at Highway65 you have turned that into a highly successful company. How? By solving problems and I'll bet a lot of those were emotional confrontations as well. Apart from music, problem solving is what you are really good at. Just look at these issues like any other problem and solve them, one at a time."

Avery went home and spent the main part of the evening thinking about his discussion with Deacon. He could see the sense of Deacon's approach. Maybe he could design this like a managerial problem and attack it on that basis. That seemed very clinical but it was the method he understood best and he had found successful with past problems. He was going to need a lot of contact with Juliette and he wondered how she would take to this approach. Maybe he could take it a step further between them. They could list all their issues, pros and cons, and discuss the solutions one at a time. A focused approach, that would work best for him, exactly the same as a company problem.

Just then his cell phone chimed: an incoming text. It was from Juliette. "Dear Avery, I am coming home to Nashville tomorrow and I need to see you urgently. Can we meet at eleven in the morning? I repeat it is very urgent. We can meet at your place or mine. Please let me know when you reply. Love Juliette.

He replied, "Dear Juliette, Ok at your place. See you at eleven. Love Avery." He always felt a twinge of satisfaction when he read her texts. Always, Dear Avery, and closed with Love. He could do that for her as well. She had spent the last few weeks in Los Angeles making a movie about Patsy Cline. What would cause her to come home in the middle of that?

Well, he found out the next day. She opened the door and they gave each other a polite hug. They sat on her couch. He was at one end and she sat next to him but just out of contact.

"I'm sorry I haven't told you this earlier but there have been reasons. Firstly I needed to be absolutely certain. Secondly I have been tied up in Los Angeles and you need to hear this first hand. It is that important."

You are starting to worry me Juliette, are you alright? Is there something wrong with you?"

"No Avery, nothing even remotely close to being wrong. In fact for me it couldn't be more right. Avery, I'm pregnant. In March next year you're going to be a father."

Avery said nothing for over a minute, transfixed in shock. He just stared at the enormous smile on her face.

"Avery, please say something," Juliette pleaded.

"Me?" He shifted his gaze to the floor. "God Damn. Me?"

He kept up the muttering, "God Damn, a father, me?" Repeating the phrase, sounding in disbelief.

The emotions caught up with him, this was going to put him in overload. He needed to get out. He stood and took four paces towards the door. Juliette called to him, "Avery please stay. Please say something."

His conversation with Deacon from the day before suddenly registered. Here it was. His first test to grow up and cope instead of running. He returned to the couch where he took hold of Juliette's hands. "When, how did this happen?"

"Juliette gave a short laugh, "Well the how is pretty obvious. When you make love as often as we did something is bound to happen. The doctor said the medication she gave me for all that home wrecker and god stress business acted up with the pill. I am certain I conceived the night I got back from Howie V. You know that's when we made love all night. It was our happiest time and exactly when we should make a baby.

"God Damn," Avery swore again. "Hmm, I can accept this idea. Yeah, I can be a daddy. In fact now that I have thought about it I'm getting all sorts of ideas. First off our baby will be a great musician and singer. They won't be able to avoid that, it'll be born into them. We have so much to work out now. What are you doing for the rest of the day? Hmm. Maybe the rest of the year, we have a lot to do."

Juliette smiled quietly to herself. Avery's developing enthusiasm was the reward she was hoping for at this point. But she knew, there was no sense deluding herself. There was a huge chasm between Avery being a father and them being a family.

"I've got all the time in the world. Someone at the movie saw me with morning sickness and reported me. I will be off the movie from today. I expect the press will be releasing the story anytime now."


	2. Chapter 2

I have no connection with any part of the Nashville Television series.

This is a pure figment of my imagination as there is very little information available concerning this situation. It is pretty much being created as I go. Basically, have a new idea, write something about it. There is no plan so I have no idea how long or how many chapters it will be. The only guideline is: when I exhaust my ideas then I will write an ending. I will make an excuse right at this point if the writing becomes verbose or vague. I do not have an editor and I am hopeless at the job. Fiction is an unfamiliar medium. I'm just doing this for a little fun.

The Reconciliation of Avery and Juliette.

**Managing the Issues.**

**Chapter 2. **

**The Conflict****.**

"So now," Juliette said. "Where do we go from here?"

"I'll support you completely," Avery said. "I'll go to the doctor with you, any classes you might have. I'll help with any exercises you need to do and I'll be with you at the birth if you want. After the baby is born it'll need to be with you all the time but I'll come around to visit and help you if there's anything I can do. Later on I guess we can work out some kind of co-parent arrangement."

"I see," Juliette did not seem impressed. "That just seems like an easy out to me. I want our child bought up in a real family. I had enough of a disjointed childhood. I'm not going to dump that on our child without a fight. We have issues between us and they need to be sorted out. I don't want our child to pay for our mistakes. We are seriously going to try and solve these problems before I'll settle for some lame joint-parenting cop out. It's time this all got sorted out."

"I suppose you mean how do we reconcile being parents with this Fordham issue between us?" Avery guessed.

"There are a lot more issues between us than just that but we can start there if you like. Actually that is probably the best place to start. We've been though enough crap to last a lifetime over this, now the hens can come home to roost. I promise you though it'll be pretty ugly. You're going to hear some stuff you won't like. You'll hear stuff you were never aware of but you are going to take it no matter how unpleasant it gets. We're going to clear the air around us."

He'd missed something here. He was supposed to take the initiative and solve this like a managerial problem. Somehow Juliette just seized the issue by the throat and he was on the defensive. He could see, any thought of getting control back and he had a major problem. He walked into this. He picked the topic but she grabbed the ball.

"I won't like this? You're the one who slept with him." He attempted to regain some ground but she just went straight over him.

"Ok," Juliette said. "Let's be completely clear about something. To sleep with someone generally infers some level of intimacy, foreplay or an emotional connection. Fordham did not sleep with me unless you consider fucking a prostitute in a back alley is sleeping with her."

Her attack here surprised Avery. No mincing words or niceties. He had never really heard her talk like this before. This was a full on 'go for the jugular attack'. He had a distinct premonition what was coming and he was not going to like it. He was on his left foot right from the start. She was right, he could see this getting ugly quickly. She had spent days constructing and preparing this case and he was going to wear it, right between the eyes.

"No, with this there was no intimacy, no foreplay and definitely no emotional connection." She was determined and he would hear it exactly as she experienced the episode.

"Let me describe what happened between us in plain terms just so we are clear on our point of discussion," she snarled. "Fordham at no point even tried to prepare me. He kissed me once, spun me around, ripped off my underwear, jammed his cock in me and climaxed. It was all over that quickly: roughly a minute. Needless to say it hurt like hell. The fact is I was hopelessly drunk, so drunk that legally I could not have given considered consent even if he allowed me the opportunity. So legally guess what that makes this? However I am not even going to raise issue with that, I've been raped before, several times, especially as a kid. Let's just say I was acclimatized to that a long time ago. No, I was there and I allowed it to happen irrespective of the circumstances. So, I've admitted to it and described exactly what happened. The question is: are you going to acknowledge what you did because in my book you're equally as guilty as me."

"I'm equally as guilty? How do you even dream up something like that? The fact is you were there and that's why it happened," Avery said.

"Fuck you Barkley. You sanctimonious bastard," Juliette swore. Angrily she raised her voice. He was beginning to frustrate her. "Why was I there? Have you ever asked yourself that? You are that conceited you are completely ignorant of everything you did. You think that weak assed apology you made the next morning squares everything for you? It wasn't even close and far too late. If you had done that the previous afternoon then it would have mattered. You weren't the only one with a share of the blame, but you are the one I cared about, the one whose actions distressed me, the one who drove me to that party. Now we are going to sort this out if it takes all night, all tomorrow and there's blood on the floor. You will not walk away from this one."

But that is exactly what Avery intended. He stood up and headed towards the door. Despite what Deacon had told him he could see what Juliette intended was far beyond his emerging capacity to cope and discuss.

Juliette snatched up a solid glass ornament off the table. "No you don't," she shouted. "You're not walking away from this Barkley. Take one more step towards that door and I'll throw this at your head. Walk away now and you'll destroy us. I love you too much to let that happen and you love me too much for me to allow that to happen."

Avery just nodded and sat down.

"There's more to this Fordham business. You remember after the Opry performance he dropped me? Then after HowieV recorded me and half the record labels were trying to sign me he made that deal of my own Imprint and a quarter of a million dollars for you as my producer. He must have been really pissed when we tore it up and signed with Highway65. Actually he must have been more than pissed. I can't prove this but I really suspect, because of how drunk I was, and I was really, really drunk, he saw an opportunity and acted on it. I never went to that party to have sex with anyone. I went there to get drunk, that was my only objective. I'm almost positive he deliberately set me up. He wasn't drunk that night he maybe only had a couple of drinks. I'm sure he tried to take advantage of my drunken state. I think to see how far he could get. I was in a really bad place, I despised myself and I despised the world plus I was too drunk and stupid to know what he was up to. After that he tried to blackmail me into getting fired from Highway65 and signing with him. Otherwise he was going to tell you all about it. I was desperate and that's why you thought I was slipping away. I didn't know what to do."

"But you were still there. You did it to yourself. That's the crux of the matter. If you hadn't gone none of this would have happened. It is so weak and lame trying to put blame on me," Avery said.

"You really are a self righteous bastard aren't you? Have you been listening? You won't even give me the slightest pity or room for doubt. You know what one of your absolute worst faults is? Avery, you hurt people who care about you. You are hurting me right now. You're not even trying to think of what you might have done even though I've said you have a major part of the blame in this. You haven't even asked what you did. No, just shift everything onto me like you have been doing for the past few weeks. I know how you work, when you feel bad say something cruel so Juliette will feel worse. Not even one mention of sympathy, just nothing, but you will understand or I will die trying."

"There is something you need to realize before we begin," Juliette said. "You are my first true love. You and I are a completely new experience for me. The truth is I am twenty-four and I have never even had a parent's love to share let alone something like we have. Consequently I have a lot of feelings I have never experienced before and I don't really know how to handle them or in a lot of cases what they mean. I've had many bad episodes with men. I couldn't tell you how many times I was told someone loved me only to find out they lied. They loved something alright but it wasn't me. Honestly, I reached a point where I thought there was something wrong with me, that no one wanted me. But then I met you. I knew I loved you almost from the start and I believed you loved me. I knew and believed this in my heart. I wanted to be deserving of you but I didn't feel I was good enough. I kept trying, really hard to be worthy. I was improving but my history can't be completely erased in only a few months. This causes my reactions in certain situations to be impulsive or not normal. I am trying to learn. What I do know is you are the complete focus of my world and the worst disaster that can befall me is to lose your love. Right now, as we stand now, is absolute torture for me."

"However, let's take issue with this problem and get it sorted out," Juliette said. "This entire shambles started with your little ex girlfriend Scarlett and is the result of some very poor decisions by Rayna who was on the verge of a severe financial crisis with Highway65. Scarlett should never have been involved in this industry. Mind you she has a tremendous talent but does not have the temperament for it.

Rayna had engaged Liam to produce an album for her. Liam has a well known reputation. He tries to screw every female he works with. Well he was screwing Scarlett. Even worse Rayna had them under so much pressure for the album he was flogging Scarlett into the ground work-wise. So he got her started on pills. Rayna found out what was going on and fired him and this is when my problems started."

"Rayna is desperate now," Juliette continued. "She asks Scarlett if she knows a producer and she recommends you. You ask me and I say no. I can see you aren't happy and I get the impression you think I refuse because I'm jealous. That wasn't true. I'm about to go on tour in the North West. I really need this tour to work. I've had negative publicity all over the country and I'm under a ton of pressure. You are my band leader, lead guitarist, show consultant and boyfriend. This throws a huge wrench into my tour arrangements. Saying no isn't good enough for you. You pull the old guilt trick. Remember what you said? 'You will say no to Scarlett but you hope I can find a way to be ok with it so you don't have to.' That's great. You've got me in a corner, of course I have to agree but imagine how you made me feel. I needed you as much, in fact much more than Scarlett but you go to her. Quite frankly Avery, that hurt me a lot."

Juliette was not about to relent now, Avery was going to hear all of it. "Then things went from bad to worse. The only opening act Rayna could let me have for the tour was Scarlett. I pointed out that she was making an album so touring was impossible for her.

Then Rayna has this absolutely crazy idea. Scarlet and you can make the album on the tour. That is absolutely ridiculous. If it was practical, everyone would do it and we wouldn't need recording studios. Now Scarlett is on tour, with an impossible workload, making an album that at best will be slap dash and you agree to it. Did you even stop to think what you were doing to me? I was starting to get feelings I didn't understand and I didn't know what they meant or how to cope with them. What I thought was 'I'm losing my best friend and I don't know how to stop it happening.' Something else I found out about later was both Rayna and Deacon were at a Luke Wheeler concert a few months ago and Scarlett broke down on stage. Even knowing that, they still sent her out with me and that impossible workload. What is your reaction when I see the tour isn't working and Scarlett needs to spark-up? 'Do I have to be so rough on Scarlett and power-play her?' Thanks for the lack of support Avery, why not just paint a sign?"

"I'm really sorry," Avery said, "I never thought or intended…"

"That's your trouble Avery," Juliette cut him off. "I said before, you hurt people who care for you. You don't think or intend but you do it just the same. It's your selfishness. You think only of yourself and what interests you and damn everyone else. I didn't need much. Perhaps just an acknowledgement, some reassurance, a gentle kiss, a touch but I was left to cope on my own. Damn you Barkley, I've been punishing myself over this entire scenario to the point of desperation and all you can do is 'I never intended'…bullshit. But you don't get off that easy, there's a lot more to go and it gets a lot worse."

"Where the real issues start is your behavior with Scarlett out on the tour. When Wentworth came onto me you did not show any reaction but he only needed to touch Scarlett and you were all over him"

"Just a minute here," Avery interjected. "You didn't hear it but I did speak to him. I told him I didn't like the way he treated you. He then sarcastically asked if I could do better. I told him that seemed to be your opinion. Do you know what he came back with? 'I'll never have you for long. You are right out of my league. I wasn't good enough for you."

"At that concert," he continued, "I knew Scarlett was on the verge of something bad. That's why I stopped him with her. That was the only reason. I wanted to stop her going on stage. I sent for you. You only saw me trying to stop Wentworth and misunderstood. Then Wentworth distracted me and she went on stage and broke down. But I never forgot what he said, 'you are out of my league and I'm not good enough.' It certainly looks like he was right. You betrayed me with Fordham like I was nothing. That is what hurt the most. I loved you with everything I had."

"You are so wrong about me thinking you are nothing. You are the love of my life. However, I must admit you have given me a new perspective," Juliette said. "Can we come back to this? You have just made me realize there are other factors involved in this. First let's get all the issues out in the open. It seems from what you have just said that there are issues you are not aware of and issues I am not aware of. There may be a light at the end of this tunnel."

"What was really unfair was when we got back to Nashville. I was as worried for Scarlett as everyone else. I mean, I arranged the doctor, I organized a car to pick her up, we used my plane and I was right there the whole trip back. But when we got back basically Rayna blamed me. As I pointed out before it was primarily her fault and yours as well for knowingly agreeing to Rayna's stupid idea. Deacon even came to my defense. He asked her, 'You blame Juliette for this?' I'm sure he knew what went down. But Rayna brushed me aside. She would take Scarlett to the hospital with you and I could go home. Damn, I had never been made to feel as small and insignificant in my life. Even Scarlett's crazy mother went as well and I reckon she had more to do with this than we realize. However that's something you would know, you knew her back in Natchez."

"Then I went to the hospital that afternoon to see how Scarlett was and she went off her head blaming me for everything. I was really upset having to unfairly accept all this so I went home to wait for you and a friendly shoulder," Juliette said. "At least, I thought, I will get some reassurance from you and right then I really needed that."

"However, when you came in you were dog tired. I should have realized this and not expected anything from you but I was pretty low. Stupidly I thought sex would cheer you up, like it always does. You surprised me when you were too tired even for that. The fact was we were both tired and both on a short fuse. We had words, over Scarlett and you pulled the usual Avery trick and walked out rather than face the issue. That was a very crucial action. You have no idea what you just staying there could have avoided."

"After you left I felt guilty," Juliette continued. "You were tired and so was I. We shouldn't have argued. I decided to apologize and we could have the make up sex in the morning. So I went to your apartment but you weren't there. So I decided to wait."

Avery suddenly felt very apprehensive. Straight away he knew where this was going. She had followed him that night, and she was right to be upset. Especially considering how he had punished her since. He has been grossly unfair, how did she tolerate him? Almost like being hit over the head with it, he immediately knew now what she was leading to and where he came in it. She was right, he did have a significant share of the blame. Briefly the thought of leaving crossed his mind but he eliminated it just as quickly. He suddenly knew if this could be resolved it would have a significant effect on both their lives.

"I must have fallen asleep on your couch," Juliette continued. " When I woke up next morning you had not been home all night. I suddenly had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. Surely you weren't with Scarlett. What good would that do? You could be of no use to her. They have nurses for that kind of thing. If you had gone there after you left me that could only be the worst possible indication. I decided I had to see for myself. Hopefully my fears would be ungrounded. When I got to Scarlett's room you were just waking up having spent the night in a chair beside her. I stepped back outside the room and I heard you both talking. You obviously still had deep feelings for her. She told you she would never love anyone as much as you and you said she would always be in your heart. I knew I could never measure up to her. She is the kind of woman all men want. Not like me, I can hope and try but the fact remains, Fordham picked it, I am just trash. Love and a happy life are just not for me. My heart broke in that hospital Avery. I had so much love for you and such hopes for us but I could see it was gone and I could do nothing to get it back."

"Oh, Juliette…"Avery said but she cut him off.

"I went home. I had nothing else to do. I clung to the hope that you would come to see me later that day. Rayna rang me about mid-morning and told me Scarlett was to be discharged and Deacon was coming in to take her to his place. I asked about you but Rayna said there was no-one there when she arrived. My last hope was that since you weren't at the hospital you would come to see me. But you didn't come, yet you had three parts of the day when you could have called. This only confirmed my fears. You were going to break us up. Avery, I was so distraught I could not cope with the thought, it was unbearable. I was so fearful I could not even ring you, dreading what you might say. I have never been so desperate in my life. I hated myself. I would go to the BMI party and get so drunk I would pass out…that was the worst thing I could think of. It is difficult to let you know how miserable I was. Honestly Avery, if I had thought of it that night, I would have stepped off the Shelby Street bridge. Yes Avery I was literally that bad."

"That is why I was at that party and those three things, walking out of our discussion, not going home but instead going to Scarlett and not calling on me after you left the hospital. Any of those things would have kept me away from that party. But they weren't to be. The rest you know."

Avery sat on the couch just staring at her. He had no idea how to reply. He could understand everything she said and although she made no attempt to excuse herself for Fordham Avery understood how and why it happened. She was right, his lack of consideration, neglect and ignorance were just as much to blame for this situation as anything she did. This was too much to absorb. He needed to think, get it straight in his head. Then he could discuss the issue with her. But he needed time, he was overwhelmed.

"I have to think about this," he said. "I need to get this together in my head. It's too much to take in at once."

"That's fine," Juliette replied, "but you will do that here. You're not leaving, we are staying with this until the end and you will stay here until then. This will be resolved Avery, one way or the other."

"Juliette, it's one thirty in the morning," he objected. She was being set and he felt she was unreasonable. He also needed sleep.

"That's ok," she said, "you can stay here. I have four spare rooms or if you want you can stay with me. Actually I would like that but it's your choice."

In the end he didn't move. He stayed on the couch and tried to put all this into a perspective he understood. Juliette sat on the couch with him. She looked at him softly but said nothing. He would ask if he wanted her to speak. No, she had prepared this over several days. She didn't do it in five minutes. He obviously would need time, she could tell by the look of troubled concern on his face.

'Ok,' he thought, 'best to use what I'm used to and what Deacon suggested. Manage the situation. Look at the facts, solve the problem, find the solution.'

'Fact one. I'm in love with her. Now, solve this. The fact is there is no solution here. There is either acceptance or rejection. I've tried rejection and how did that work out? Pretty damned poorly. I tried to hurt her to get her to hate me. That didn't work. Why? She said it before, 'she loves me too much.' I tried other women but they just made me think of her even more and besides, they bought back the memories I was trying to lose. So I tried alcohol. I don't understand why people think alcohol makes you forget, it doesn't, unless you pass out. No, it just makes you do stupid things. I'd better take a mental note to remember that when I get to Juliette and Fordham. Nope, that's the problem I've tried everything I can think of and I can't shake her loose. I know now I'll never shake her loose. No matter, even if the pain eases eventually and I suppose it will, if I can stand it that long, I'll never forget her. She's like a drug to me and I'm addicted. Juliette Barnes is my life sentence. He needed to remember that. There were issues to still be addressed and that was one for the list. So what's the solution? Well obviously there is only one. I have to accept I love her and end this pain.'

He said nothing but just looked at Juliette who had not moved. She still had that look on her face. He decided it was love he was looking at. She still loved him.

"What?" She said.

"I've just decided I have to accept you as a part of me. Like my right arm. No, no that's a poor analogy, more like my heart."

"Well, that makes two of us. Have you got it all worked out?"

"Not yet but I'm getting there."

'Ok, let's say fact one is sorted out.' He was back thinking again. 'However, before that can be put into practice I need to solve fact two. I would need to forgive her. Can I do that? Well standing back and taking an objective look at all this new information the first point is: Did she really betray me? Firstly she was very drunk and what was my idea on alcohol before? It makes you do stupid things. Alright, how affected was she? Would she have ever been involved with Fordham if she was sober? The answer to that is: of course not, she hates his guts. So, obviously the alcohol was a major factor. Ok, I can accept that. Next: her mental state. That's where I come in. I have to accept a lot of the blame. She needed me and I ignored her. What did she say right at the start? We are a new experience for her and she has trouble controlling her feelings. Another mental note: That goes on the list for later discussion as well. Also, of course and again on me, if I had not walked out of that fight, not spent the night with Scarlett at the hospital or called on Juliette after I left the hospital she would have never been at that party. That is my fault, plain and simple.'

'Her mental state is on me. I ignored her. Was her ultimate state of mind an over reaction? Yes it probably was in reality but it wasn't to her. She has admitted her reactions are not normal, so to her, mentally, she was severely depressed. It's difficult to imagine she could have committed self harm but I suppose if she felt her anguish had reached that point perhaps she could have. I should be thankful she is still here: things could have been a lot worse. Nevertheless, my actions or rather, lack of action caused that. She is right I became so focused I lost awareness of what was happening. Selfishness she called it. Maybe she is right. That can go on the list to be discussed later as well.'

'Now and here is the biggie. Was she manipulated by Fordham? Even though I hate him he is no fool. Could he do this? Of course he could, the guy has no scruples. Could he think this up? Again, of course, he is a corporate executive. Thinking and being aware of situations is right up his main street. If given the opportunity would he do it? Again, look at the situation objectively. He had just lost his two top artists to the opposition. These are his options. He can manipulate Juliette, blackmail her though me, and she re-signs with Edgehill. Win to Fordham. Alternatively Juliette doesn't sign with Edgehill. He destroys me and Juliette. Both she and Highway65 lose their only signed production combination and this is exactly what's happened. Win to Fordham. So, at the very worst Juliette should be considered a victim in this but in truth she was probably really a very drunk and admittedly stupid pawn in a pretty cunning plot. That brings to light something I can never tolerate. Fordham is having an influence on both Juliette's and my lives. Even worse he has made them both miserable. That's where I should shift my anger, onto that bastard. For both our sakes Juliette should be completely forgiven. I cannot hold what has happened against her as any sort of a betrayal. But if I'm ever given the opportunity I'm going to smack that scum Fordham fair in the mouth and to hell with the consequences.'

He looked at Juliette who was still in same position. Her expression had changed somewhat. She still had that soft look but somehow it was mixed with what he could only describe as a peaceful satisfaction.

"You know," she said. "It's amazing the things you can notice when you focus completely on someone. You have a truly expressive face. It's fascinating to watch you. I swear I can see what you're thinking." She smiled that soft smile she used in the past, just before she kissed him.

"Oh, read me like a book can you? Ok smarty, what was I thinking?"

"You're getting closer and it's all looking good for us."

"Hmm, perhaps I should wear a mask. Anyway, you're right, I am getting close."

"What about the 'us' part?" Juliette asked. Her tone just suggested a little anxiousness.

"Ok. No significant negatives yet. Is that alright?"

She gave him that soft smile again. "Keep going."

The last fact was his most difficult. He had no control over its outcome. He could not forgive Juliette for this because it was for all the neglect and painful insults he had directed at her. He said some terrible things. Things deliberately designed to hurt her. Comments like not being able to stand the sight of her. Things he even screamed at her. He knew they struck her deeply. He meant them to, and they were meant to be cruel; as if making her feel bad eased his pain. But it didn't. He knew he was irrational, bearing a terrible pain and striking out in any direction in a desperation to ease it.

Then of course was the inaction on his part that led up to this. The things she made him aware of; his stupid ignorance of her and her needs. He was powerless to solve any of these things. She had asked him to forgive her. She had suffered as much as he had though this entire ordeal. Yes, he would forgive her, move ahead as if this had never happened. Devote himself to their family. He would beg her for the same. Just move ahead. Their future was too promising to ignore or stifle with trivialities like Jeff Fordham.

He looked at her again and smiled. She looked at him curiously. He didn't waste time letting her know how he felt. "It would be impossible for you to even remotely conceive how much I love you."

She drew a quick breath and just uttered an "Oh." She clasped both hands over her heart. Suddenly she was on top of him, her arms around his neck, kissing any part of his face she could reach. He returned her kisses with equal enthusiasm.

"We need to move ahead," he said when they finally paused for breath. "This whole business is just a sad mistake and means nothing. We have far more important considerations in front of us and I want to share them with the bravest, most devoted and determined woman I have ever met. Among many things, we need to build our family. In case it isn't clear you are as faultless as an angel"

"But I need to ask you something for my own peace of mind." He hesitated, he was suddenly aware he may not like the answer. He drew a breath. "I am guilty of hurting you so badly both in things I said and things I failed you with. Can you find it in your heart to forgive me my stupidity?"

"Oh my love, I love you so much. I have been dreaming of hearing you say that. Now we can build our lives together. Now we are a family. This answers my prayers. Thank you. We have moved past all that, our future is what we look towards and it will be wonderful, I know." She entered another bout of random kissing. They were both laughing with the joy of their realizations.

"I don't want to change the subject but what do you think about some sleep, it's nearly three in the morning?" he asked. Even the kissing had become a physical effort.

"Yes and we will sleep together in my bed…actually our bed."

"I don't think I would be much good at lovemaking tonight. I am exhausted."

"That's Ok. Make up sex is in the morning."

He laughed, "what about the baby?"

"Hey," she said. "I'm into Country and Western, a real cowgirl. I can ride horses…and other things as well."

"Good to see you are your old self," he laughed. "However I think we may still need to look at ourselves. I think there is scope for discussion to really make things solid between us."

"I agree but right now get your beauty sleep. You will need the energy in the morning."

_**Note: I didn't think this story was popular as initially it received no reviews. Consequently I decided not to continue. Then some kind person posted a review and I discovered the 'Traffic Stats' page. I was surprised to see the story does have quite a few readers. So I have completed another chapter. As I stated in the preface, this is my own visualization of an Avery/Juliette reconciliation plus the issues between them I think they should resolve for a stable relationship. I hope others enjoy this approach.**_


	3. Chapter 3

I have no connection with any part of the Nashville Television series.

This is a pure figment of my imagination as there is very little information available concerning this situation. It is pretty much being created as I go. Basically, have a new idea, write something about it. There is no plan so I have no idea how long or how many chapters it will be. The only guideline is: when I exhaust my ideas then I will write an ending. I will make an excuse right at this point if the writing becomes verbose or vague. I do not have an editor and I am hopeless at the job. Fiction is an unfamiliar medium. I'm just doing this for a little fun.

The Reconciliation of Avery and Juliette.

**Managing the Issues.**

**Chapter 3. **

**The Consolidation****.**

It was after ten thirty the following morning when Avery untangled himself from Juliette and pulled on a pair of boxers.

"Where do you think you're going?" Juliette complained. "You haven't finished yet."

"You are insatiable," Avery laughed. "We need a rule to take a break after the second session."

"You're not fair. I want more."

"You're being greedy now," Avery said. "Besides I only said we're taking a break. Time for coffee, and then we can go back to keeping you happy."

"You do keep me happy and I missed you terribly. God! I love you so much."

"Yeah, well, we could have a pretty good argument about who loves who the most. Last night during our little chat I decided you're my life sentence, I'm addicted to you, that no matter what I do I can never shake you loose. I guess that means I'm committed to loving you for as long as I live."

"Well," Juliette agreed, "I guess that makes two of us. I suppose we'll have to declare the love intensity argument a draw."

"Just as a matter of interest this morning I was lying in bed thinking…"

"You were thinking this morning?" Juliette queried. "I thought I had you pretty focused with other activities. I must be losing my touch."

"I was thinking between when I woke up and when we both lost control…twice."

He sat beside her on the bed and handed her a cup of coffee. "I was thinking about love. You know there' s no shortage of love in our relationship. There never has been. We've always loved each other with the same absolute devotion and now is no different. We're still committed for life, just like always. So I was thinking, 'why did we have that problem? There must be a lesson to be learned here.' It should have never happened. You know, love is supposed to over ride everything. But what if it doesn't? What if other influences can affect that devotion and create doubts and jealousies. Then I thought maybe there are things in our relationship that can interfere with our love. You know, cause us to doubt our trust, make us question our love, cause us to act irrationally. If we could identify those problems and find solutions it would minimize the chances of a repeat episode and make us stronger. What do you reckon?"

"I don't know. You know you sometimes get ahead of me. That's one of the reasons I love you so much, you think for me. You're the brains of the outfit so give me a 'for instance.' Then I might understand."

"When you overheard the conversation I had with Scarlett at the hospital," Avery explained. "You thought we were telling each other how much in love we were. You misunderstood, we were telling each other, goodbye. She said 'she could never love anyone as much as me.' Of course she could only mean up to that point in time. How could she possibly know how much she would love someone in the future?"

"I told her 'she would always have a piece of my heart.' That meant I had loved her, the operative word there is 'had' and I would never forget her. We just said goodbye that was all it was."

"But you," Avery continued, "have an inferiority complex and that was only reinforced by Jeff Fordham. What did he call you? 'Trailer trash, a mildly talented lie and not deserving of your house.' I think you deep down have those sorts of misgivings playing on your mind. So what do you think? You think you are not good enough for me. Men do not want a woman like you, you are not worthy. They want women like Scarlett. You convince yourself you really are a mildly talented lie, trailer trash just like Fordham said and you lose hope for us."

"Of course there is everything wrong with your thinking process. Firstly, you are not in any way pretentious or artificial. You are a generous person of true quality, huge talent and you deserve everything you have. Even your trailer park background. We did that show there last year. You weren't ashamed. No one who saw that show was ashamed. We were all impressed that you achieved what you have through, skill, talent and hard work. None of us can be blamed for where we were born or our family. We are responsible for what's in our hearts and our minds. On that score you are perfect."

"Something else I picked up on during that television trip. Your mother lost your father very early. Maybe it might be worth considering that your mother was like she was through grief. I know if I lost you like she lost your father I would fall apart. Perhaps it might be worth keeping that under consideration."

"Of course all this is to illustrate what you should have really thought if you didn't have doubts. 'Avery loves me and I love him. Our love is so strong I know he would never leave me.' That would have ended all that strife. However the failure was the doubts that led to a loss of faith and trust in our love. I think we should prove to you what Fordham said is just a load of crap. People really love you for what you are and what's in your heart. Come on, time to get up. We're going out. The next love making session has been postponed until tonight." They both shared the bathroom getting ready and that meant more fun but this time he kept it in perspective.

"Where are we going?" She asked.

"Surprise, time for a lesson." He smiled at her and picked up a box of her latest albums and his guitar as they were heading out the door.

The sign read 'Munroe Carell Jnr. Children's Hospital. Avery drove into the car park.

"What are we doing here?" Juliette asked.

"I want to prove something to you."

"Ok, what?" she was a little bewildered.

"I'm going to prove to you everything Fordham said to you was absolute rubbish. He is the low life for what he said. I am going to prove that people love you for you. Trailer park background doesn't matter. A true and pure heart is all there is. You'll never doubt yourself or us again because you are good enough. Come on, let's go."

Avery studied the directory inside the front door. "Third floor," he said.

They stepped out of the elevator and Avery went directly to the nurse's station. "Good morning, would it be alright if we visited the children in the cancer ward?"

The nurse seemed pre-occupied, "Do you have a…Oh my! Juliette Barnes! Of course, of course we are so honored for you to visit us. Please let me prepare the children for you."

"Children," the nurse announced. "Today we have a special visitor for you…" That was as far as she got. Juliette and Avery stepped into the room. Juliette was struck with the unexpected realization there was not one hair on any of the children. They were completely bald. Immediately she entered the room there were squeals and shouts of delight. "Juliette Barnes, Juliette Barnes." The children who could ran up to and hugged her legs. She touched each child tenderly and said, "I am really pleased to meet you all. This man with me is Avery."

"Is he your boyfriend?" A little girl asked.

"Yes he is."

"You love him. I can tell. He is a very good man," the same little girl said. A tear ran down Juliette's cheek.

"Yes," Juliette answered. She then asked the nurse, 'Do these children stay for long?"

"I'm sorry Miss Barnes," the nurse said sadly. "These children will never go home. They are all terminal."

"But some seem quite active. Shouldn't they be home?"

"There are some people who cannot cope with the stress, the child is nursed here." Juliette shed more tears.

Across to their right a boy, lying flat on his back, with a number of tubes attached to him was trying unsuccessfully to sit up. "That's Timmy," the nurse said. "Timmy is on almost permanent morphine. He will not see tomorrow."

"Oh my god," Juliette said and broke down in tears.

Avery went across to the boy. "Hi Tim, pleased to meet you pal." He took Timmy's hand. "Juliette could you please sign one of those albums for Timmy, I'd like to give it to him."

Juliette wrote a short note on the album sleeve and took it to Tim. "I have just written, 'God be with you Timmy. You are so brave. Love from your friend Juliette Barnes.' She gave it to the boy who acknowledged her gift with a strained smile. She bent over him and kissed his forehead.

Avery took his hand again, "Good for you Timmy. You'll be alright pal, it will soon be alright. I'll be seeing you again."

Juliette wrote and signed an album for each child in the ward. As she handed back each album she kissed the recipient on the cheek.

Avery asked, "Is it ok if we give the kids a song?"

"Of course," the nurse said.

"Ok," he said. "I'm going to surprise Juliette here. We have done this song before but not like this. I am going to play what is known as a finger style accompaniment. Let's know what you think. This is called Dreams."

He played an attractive and complimentary counter melody under Juliette's voice. He could tell she really liked it. This was obviously going to hit an album at some point in the future. The children loved it.

As they were leaving Juliette asked Avery, "Do you think we could do this on a regular basis? I've got so much from your lesson, I do not want to stop."

"I think we can do that. We'll ask the nurse. Just remember the lesson though; you might get a test on it later." They decided to repeat this visit weekly provided her commitments allowed.

As they were walking out Avery stopped. A woman was sitting on a bench and she was obviously very distressed, sobbing almost uncontrollably. He went across to her, "Excuse me, are you ok? Can we be of some help?"

The woman raised he tear streaked face and said, "No one can help me."

"I don't want to pry but we would really like to help you. Can you tell us what the problem is?"

"My son is dying," the woman sobbed.

"Oh," he said realizing there was little they could do. "I'm sorry to hear that. You have our sympathy."

"The woman looked up, "thank you," she said and then recognized Juliette. "He is all I have and now he's being taken from me. Worst is he was gay and he is dying from a disease related to his orientation. But people are so cruel. Even though he is dying people still ridicule him. Younger people, neighbors, 'is the faggot dead yet?' That kind of thing. I'm so ashamed."

"Would you take us to him?" Avery asked. "He might enjoy meeting Juliette."

"He would," the woman said as they went into the hospital. "He is a huge fan. He has every one of your recordings. He thinks 'Don't put Dirt on my Grave' should win an award."

"I hope he's right," Juliette said. "This is Avery Barkley he co-wrote it with me. In fact he co-writes almost everything with me."

"He knows who you are as well Mr. Barkley. He has seen you live at the Bluebird several times and also with Miss Barnes band. You are his idol. I'm Jenny Blyth. My son is David."

They went into the ward and a young man with a number of lines connected to him was lying flat on the bed. 'Sad,' Avery thought, 'we are both about the same age.' The man on the bed looked extremely ill; a deathly grey color. Avery shook his hand, surprisingly there was a measure of strength to the handshake. "Pleased to meet you David, I'm Avery. This is Juliette." The man in the bed gave a small nod of recognition and a smile. "You keep hanging in there for your mom David. It'll be alright." Juliette shook his hand but was too emotional to speak. A nod was her only gesture.

Avery went to Jenny and put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't let the cruel remarks distract you from what is really important Jenny. It's not important what his sexual orientation was. That was as natural for him as ours is to us. Don't focus on his dying or the manner of it. That is something ahead of all of us. Focus on him being your son. All the memories you have. What is important is how he lived his life, not how it ends. Focus on that." He could feel tears building. Juliette was crying as well. Jenny stopped crying; a look of realization crossing her face. "We'll see you later Jenny, you take care. Look after yourself and David."

Avery and Juliette left the ward and made their way towards the elevator. "Thank you Mr. Barkley," Jenny called after him. "Thank you Miss Barnes. God bless you Mr. Barkley and God bless you Miss Barnes. God bless you both."

Back in the car Avery lent across and gently kissed her. "I have never been as proud of anyone or anything in my life. You were fantastic. What did you think?"

"I can't believe that. I have never dreamed of such an experience. All of them, it was like everyone had their hearts open and we just fell together. I loved them and they loved us. I owe you so much for that. I'm so pleased I have been through that. You are right, I suddenly feel like a real worthwhile person; someone who loves and is truly loved, just for myself. Those kids only knew me as me, they didn't buy records they don't read tabloids. They respond to what they see and feel. They see and feel the true me and they responded. You have taught me more in two hours than everything and everyone in my entire life. I am so blessed to have found you. I love you so much, but just as importantly I now love me and I never knew that was even possible. I now know what it is like to respect myself as well as others. Avery you will never have reason to doubt me ever again. I am even more completely yours."

"I reckon we belong to each other forever," Avery said. "Just look at how well that went for both of us. I can tell you now, to be honest, I was no different to you. I always thought I never deserved you. I suppose Charlie Wentworth gave me doubts. But I used to think 'why were you with me?' You are famous, you are wealthy and I am nothing and have nothing. You will eventually realize and dump me. I didn't know how I would handle that because I loved you so much but I did expect it to happen. So when we had that episode I was destroyed. I knew it would happen and it did; it completely destroyed me. I half expected to see you with Wentworth again but then I saw you on the news making that movie. They said you were getting close to that Noah West and I thought I had lost you for good. I would have crawled across a mile of broken glass for you and now you were gone. I was a wreck. Then I got that text from you. I have absolutely no idea why, but I felt hopeful. Hopeful of what, I couldn't imagine, but it gave me hope. Now look at us."

"Avery, despite everything that had happened and the stupid mistakes you never lost me. I was just as miserable as you. Despite our arguments and insults I never lost hope for us. I was never giving up. I was just going to hang in there until we calmed down enough and I didn't care how long that took. You know West did come onto me. Without any warning he just kissed me and suggested we have sex. I stopped him straight away. I was never making the mistake of betraying you again, even if we were broken up. Now I am proven right and I feel so good in myself for everything that has happened since they kicked me off that film. Avery, just so you know how I really feel. You are worth a thousand Charlie Wentworth's and a million Noah West's. You have me for life and you will never lose me. Please be sure…never doubt me again. Right now though I have a request if you can bear with me. You may think this is a little strange but it will mean a lot to me."

"Ok. What is it?"

"I want to go to church. I want to thank God for everything he has given me today. I want to thank God for giving me you."

"Ok. The West End Uniting is the closest. Is that alright?"

"Yep, right religion as well."

"See we must be right for each other. Right religion for me too; God sure knows what he is doing."

Avery wasn't a particularly religious person, but he did believe and he respected the church and what it represented. He joined Juliette in a silent prayer of thanks. He was grateful for the events of the past couple of days, and if some supreme power had an influence he was happy to express his gratitude.

Just then a minister appeared near the pulpit. Avery stood and attracted his attention. He went down to the front of the church to talk to the reverend. Juliette finished her prayer and although she couldn't hear the conversation it aroused her curiosity. The minister was listening intently to Avery nodding his head intermittently. He then walked out a side door leaving Avery waiting by the pulpit. Juliette stood to go to Avery but he held up his hand for her to stay where she was. Presently the minister returned and spoke briefly to Avery. Avery replied, they shook hands and he came back to her.

"What was that all about?" Juliette asked.

"We have just joined the congregation of the Nashville West End Uniting Methodist Church. We will be at services Sunday morning at ten thirty."

"You did that? Why? You have never gone to church since I've known you."

"Well, among other things we are expecting a child. This changes a few things. It is only right our child is bought up under the influence of a religion. I like this one and it's a magnificent old church. So I reckon we should join. Besides we can probably help them. With our backgrounds I'm sure they'll find a use for us."

"Weird," Juliette said. "You never cease to amaze me Barkley. Well you won't get any objections from me. After today I reckon we owe God a lot. If going to church helps repay some of that then I'm all for it."

Avery had a suggestion of a smile on his face all the way home. He was proud of himself. He had disguised his plan with the minister brilliantly. He actually told her there was a second motive but had camouflaged it so well she was not aware. The church calendar was free for a Saturday in four weeks time. He needed to implement the rest of his plan and then he would need that Saturday if all went well.

They arrived home well past lunch. "Hey would you like a tuna and cheese sandwich for lunch?" Avery asked her. "I'll make them."

Juliette was in the bedroom changing into more casual clothes. "Yes thanks," she said.

Avery took off his leather jacket and hung it in the closet. It was sometimes difficult to tell the difference between Casual Avery and Formal Avery. Often that leather jacket was the only factor. "That is going to change," Juliette thought. "He's got a measure of respectability to uphold now. I'll work on that."

Avery made the sandwiches and they sat on the couch and had them.

"You know," Avery said when they finished. "We cleared up some important issues this morning. That should help us a lot. You can have a go now. I'm throwing myself on your mercy. What is it about me you think I need to fix to make our relationship better?"

"Oh my God, are you serious? A man asking a woman what's wrong with him?" She was laughing now. "Where should I start? There is so much."

"Ok smarty, have your joke. I'm trying to be serious here but if you want to have fun we can head for the bedroom and really enjoy ourselves."

"Deal," she said and immediately grabbed his hand and dragged him into the bedroom.

Afterwards, she is lying on a bed that looked like two crocodiles had a wrestling match in it. She leaned back against a pillow with a look of exhausted satisfaction on her face. "My good God, but you are an experience." The lust was still obvious in her voice. "How come you are so good? That was so intense I swear you almost had to scrape me off the ceiling. You make it last so long; that was well over an hour. How do you do it? I just love you so much."

"Do I detect a note of complaint?" He smiled.

"No! never."

"Good! Maybe now we can get back to our earlier discussion?"

"Alright, this is from our conversation yesterday, right? What do I think you should fix to make our relationship better? What have I found frustrating? Actually, there are a number of things. Let's start with what I think is that selfishness. Selfishness might be a little strong a term for it but that's how it comes across. You just disappear into your own little world and you are oblivious to everything and everyone else around you."

"I understand. Yep I agree it is a major fault of mine. It's not really that I am intentionally selfish but I can see how it could be taken that way. Trouble is it's a problem common to a lot of men, me included. Unfortunately its how I'm hard wired. That doesn't mean we can't do something about it, it's just that I have never had to do anything about it in the past. Truth is it's probably the main characteristic of a man women don't understand."

"I'm going to tell you a story from my childhood." Avery said. "This is true and I have never forgotten it. My mother asked my father to fix something in the house. I'm not sure what it was, a jammed window I think. He used a box of tools he bought in from the shed. Well he fixed the window but he forgot to take the tools back to the shed. This frustrated my mother, a box of old tools cluttering up the house. Instead of asking him to take them back she put the box in the middle of the hallway. As true as I stand here, for three days my father did not know they were there. He walked up and down that hallway maybe ten times a day but he never saw the tools. He would step over them, go around them, whatever, but he could not make a connection of 'tools and shed' in the same thought process. My mother in complete frustration yelled at him to take that box out to the shed. As soon as it was drawn to his attention he looked at the box as if it had just magically appeared. 'Oh right," was all he said and took the box out to the shed."

"So," Juliette said. "That doesn't sound like it's going to work very well for me. How do I cope with - men are idiots?"

"No, no, that's the mistake women make. They think men are just ignorant morons when that really isn't the case. Men become extremely single minded in their focus. Women can multi-task. You know my mother could knit a shawl, read a book and watch television all at the same time. The amazing part was she knew exactly what was going on with all of them. How do women do that? It's impossible for a man. My father is the illustration of this. He didn't deliberately ignore the tools. No! Each time he walked up that hall his mind was focused elsewhere. He was just not aware."

"Multi-tasking is easy," Juliette said, "it seems pretty straightforward to me."

"There, you see. You don't understand but when you can accept this is the way men are it is easy to work with it."

"How, if he is turned off to everything around him?"

"Easy…you ask him. Now it is not a good idea to just ignore what he is doing and expect him to drop everything because you wanted to talk. If he is working on a complex or intricate problem he won't like that. In fact he will probably be pretty abrupt and snappy." The trick is just ask him, 'can you talk.' That will not break his concentration and he can answer, either 'yes or no.' Accept what he says. If it's no leave it for a while, till he doesn't look as absorbed and try again. That is how it's handled, with a minimum of fuss."

"Another thing about men not many women are aware of. Now this is a little difficult because it requires a fine, subtle balance and a lot of tactical skill. Basically though, men need to be told what to do. Now, this is very sensitive. Far too many women go overboard and turn this into nagging. But it's true; men need to be told what to do. They will rarely find chores on their own that are outside their area of focus."

"Why do you think I have a secretary at Highway65? She's not a decoration, actually she's not that good looking but hell is she efficient. She keeps me organized. She tells me what to do, and when to do it. She keeps all my appointments, meeting times everything. But here's the trick, she knows how to tell me what I need to do. She doesn't just blurt out, 'Get to your meeting with Rayna.' No, she says about fifteen minutes beforehand, 'Your meeting with Rayna is coming up in fifteen minutes.' You notice the difference? The real trick is instead of telling, treat it like a suggestion. You will rarely create any friction."

"A man can organize anything," Avery explained. "A man can organize a pie fight, provided someone tells him he needs to do it. So say you have a chore for me. For example you would like the lawn cut. Say for these purposes I am currently in the middle of watching a football game. Asking me to do it then would be nagging and would just create resentment. But say if you said instead 'would you cut the lawn sometime today, sweetheart.' Then the lawn would be cut as soon as the football game finished."

"Now I see. This was covered in the lesson you gave me. It's just about respecting the other person. This might take me a while but I will try. I'll work on it. Will you help me and be patient with me?" Juliette asked.

'Hey! I love you and we're a team. I'll do whatever you want. You only have to ask."

"Avery I have learnt so much today. I really think we can make this work. I have this confident feeling we are going to be a wonderful family."

"There is something else we need to look at because these are unavoidable and we need some understanding when they happen," Avery said.

"I think I know what you're going to say."

"Yes, no matter how much we try and avoid them we are going to have fights from time to time. Hopefully, there won't be many but they will be unavoidable. We both have short fuses so they are going to occur."

"I'm afraid you're right. What can we do about them? Our fights can get pretty ferocious," Juliette said.

"I believe there is a solution to this but let's look at the nature of fights. Rules will never work but let's try to set some guidelines if that's possible.

"No fight shall be allowed to affect our relationship. That is set in stone and non negotiable."

"All fights must be resolved before we go to bed. Therefore makeup sex is encouraged. That would be a good one."

"Next! No walking away from the fight. That's one for me. It must be resolved one way or the other."

"Shouting and screaming is allowed. Sometimes it's the only way to get your point understood."

"Vulgar swearing is not allowed. You never know who might be able to hear besides it is unacceptable to degrade the other person.

"Under extreme frustration you are permitted to hit me. I can wear it. However I can never hit you. Of course I never would. I'd die before doing that."

"Throwing items is not allowed. We must respect the cutlery, crockery and ornaments."

"What do you reckon?"

"Actually it's not the Marquis of Queensbury rules but they seem pretty good for our purposes. At least our fights should be kept under some level of civility. I think they're good. Pity we didn't have them a few weeks back."

"That's all water under the bridge. That's all behind us. We're only concerned with our futures now."

"That brings us to the last item, trust. We have to have complete trust in each other. This is the only thing I worry about in any relationship. The trust aspect, it is so essential and so fragile. Sometimes it can be lost irretrievably; sometimes it can be lost through doubt. I don't want us to lose our trust under any circumstances. We need something in this relationship to fall back on so trust can be ensured."

"You know I have been thinking about this a lot," Avery continued. "All the things we have learnt. The relationship items we have covered. The issues I think will make us better. What all this needs is just that cohesion to bind it all together, that core value that gives us the faith, incentive and trust to keep this working. That essential that removes all doubt and builds our relationship in our family."

"So what's your idea?"

"I think we should get married."

"You know," Juliette said. "I'm not even surprised you said that. When we were sitting in that church today I had the strangest feeling right out of nowhere. 'We should get married here.' It just seemed to me to be the most natural and obvious thing to do."

"Are you kidding? I had exactly the same thought and then immediately that minister appeared," Avery said.

"Oh, God. This is meant to happen. That can be the only explanation."

"Well, just hold on and let me finish. I was a little vague when you asked me what I spoke to that minister about. I said 'among other things we joined the church.' That was completely true. What the 'other things' were; I organized the first free date on the church calendar. Would you believe, not ten minutes earlier they received a cancellation for four weeks from Saturday. I have organized our wedding for that date."

"I don't know whether I should be happy or angry. You didn't even ask me. You just went straight ahead. I'm not sure if I have been taken for granted. Have I been insulted?"

"No, not at all. The date was offered. I figured it was better to take the date. Then if you didn't like the idea it would be easy enough to cancel. They are booked out for over two years."

In that case you are forgiven and I acknowledge you were pretty shrewd. You are going to have a very happy wife. You do amaze me, must be why I love you."

"Well, I want you to be happy. I mean we could get married at City Hall but that would be so wrong. Besides, you are pregnant. Imagine what the tabloids would do if they found out you are pregnant and had a quickie secret wedding. That would give them enough smutty material for a month."

Nope I want to do this right," Avery said. "Four weeks is still pretty quick. I want this to be the happiest day of your life and the biggest and best wedding extravaganza Nashville has ever seen. I want the motorcade though the city. I want closed circuit television beamed to LP field and Vanderbilt football field. I want to fill both venues with your fans…for free. I want a huge all Nashville party for this and we have the time to put it together. What do you think?"

"It'll be expensive," Juliette said.

"Damn, you only get to do it once and besides we don't know how the city might get on side. We do have an in with the Mayor through Rayna. Besides this will be great for the label as well. Hell, we might even get some artists for a show. We should put Glen and Emily on it and find out"

"Ok. Wedding sorted. I am seriously excited about this. However, there are still two issues to be resolved. However these affect you more than me. So, you will have to make the decisions because you have the ultimate responsibility."

"Am I going to like this? Sounds like there might be a worry coming," Juliette said.

"I don't know only you can answer that. My first idea is you sell this house. Not just the house, every stick of furniture and anything else you think might throw up sad memories. Now my logic here is, I think we should, if possible make a clean fresh start with Juliette and Avery houses and stuff. This house I think has sad memories for you. You bought it with that Dante character and he tries to blackmail you. Also he was shot here. That must be pretty traumatic the same as your mom dying here. I was just thinking maybe we should start our relationship without any sad baggage but this is your call and I will be with you one hundred percent."

"I was thinking exactly the same thing a few months back but the idea got put on the back burner. I think we should do it."

"Ok. I don't know what we should buy but I would like to talk to Rayna. I know her father's house will have to go on the market to settle his estate. Only Rayna and her sister are the beneficiaries. Selling that house might slow down finalization of the estate. They might want to do a deal. How would you feel about living there?"

"Are you kidding?" Juliette said. "That place is a palatial estate. I'd love to live there. By all means, talk to Rayna."

"The only other issue is money. You have most of the money. I know I have made suggestions about spending some on the wedding and the house but those are exceptions. Besides, if you don't like either idea we can ditch it. I'm getting enough money to provide for us very comfortably. I think your money should stay yours. You do with it whatever you want. I will only offer advice if you ask me. I can take care of all our needs from now on."

"I'm sorry but I don't agree," Juliette sounded determined. "We are a team and our family is a unit. My money is our money just as you said your money is our money. We are together in this in everyway possible. If we want the flash wedding and I agree with you on that then we have the money to pay for it. If we can buy Rayna's father's house we will have the money for that and heaps left over. That is what I want."

"We are both doing this so right," Avery said. "I love you gorgeous woman and I think we should seal this in the bedroom later tonight."

"What a good husband you're going to be. I'm going to love this marriage."

"Well, not wishing to throw a blanket on this party but I think while we are putting everything in order I have one very unpleasant task to put right. You can join me in this or I will do it myself, it's up to you. I'll give you fair warning though; it will be very nasty if you want to join me."

"Good god, what is it?" Juliette asked.

"I'm going to try and reconcile my family. I want you to have the whole family experience if I can fix it. I'm the only one in a position to do that."

"Ok. Then we are in like everything else, together." Juliette did not even hesitate.

"Alright! No sense in postponing the task. I'll ring and let them know we'll be there for the weekend."


	4. Chapter 4

I have no connection with any part of the Nashville Television series.

This is a pure figment of my imagination as there is very little information available concerning this situation. It is pretty much being created as I go. Basically, have a new idea, write something about it. There is no plan so I have no idea how long or how many chapters it will be. The only guideline is: when I exhaust my ideas then I will write an ending. I will make an excuse right at this point if the writing becomes verbose or vague. I do not have an editor and I am hopeless at the job. Fiction is an unfamiliar medium. I'm just doing this for a little fun.

The Reconciliation of Avery and Juliette.

**Managing the Issues.**

**Chapter 4. **

**The Confrontation****.**

It was early morning. The sun had not lost its pink dawn tinge and he was still in their bed. He was propped on his elbow admiring the sleeping woman beside him. Her quiet breathing, her golden hair splayed across her pillow, her arm across his ribcage she was his vision of perfection. In reality she may not have won a Miss Universe competition; she did lack that statuesque height. She was really tiny, but he was small as well so they complimented each other. Yes, she was 'his' Miss Universe and he would choose her ahead of any of those artificial, willowy, pretenders. If Rayna James was the queen of country, this adorable creature beside him was certainly the princess.

He was so proud and thankful. This time, he was confident they had really found each other. Their love and relationship was put under the severest of trials and had emerged as a true and stronger lifetime partnership. Nothing would ever shake their trust and faith in each other. In a few weeks they would marry and their devotion would be confirmed forever.

He lowered his hand to the swell of her abdomen, the result of their love growing within her. When he placed his hand there she smiled even as she slept. This was a miracle they had made between them and she was visual proof of this wonder.

He brushed a lock of hair away from her eyes and she stirred at his touch. She squirmed under the covers, stretching and making little sounds of satisfaction. "Hey you," she said.

"Hi beautiful," he said and leaned across kissing her with tender affection.

"Now that's the only way to wake up," she said and reciprocated the kiss by moving her free hand behind his neck and pulling him down to her.

He moved his arm behind her neck and lay back with her head resting on his shoulder.

"I think we should stay here all day," she said putting her free arm around him again and drawing herself against the full length of his body.

I'd love to but I reckon I'll have to go into the office. I've been away for a couple of days, so I'd better go in and make sure someone hasn't caused a wreck."

"That's not fair," Juliette pouted jokingly, pretending a bout of the sulks.

"Hey, I need you there as well. We have some personal items we need to take care of."

"Oh, yes. Of course we do. You want to see Rayna about the house."

"That's right and we want to get Glenn and Emily working on the wedding. We also need to sound Rayna out on that as well. She might have some bright suggestions. Then I suppose we can pack for our ordeal in Natchez. We only have two days before that little gem of delight."

"You really don't want to go do you?"

"You'd better believe it. It'd rather have my teeth pulled. This is going to be the toughest thing I have ever done in my life. I only hope the years have mellowed my father somewhat."

"If it's that difficult we won't go."

"Yes we will. You're carrying the first grandchild in the family. This family must unite. You and the baby must have a family. My mother, brother and sister will want the baby. My mother, brother and sister will want you. I'm not going to allow that bombastic, domineering, tyrant to continue this crap. We are having it out and I won't quit until he relents. He must, this has gone on for too long now."

"What's the problem between the two of you?" Juliette asked.

"He hates my guts. I'll tell you about it later. Right now let's get into work."

They went directly to his office, "Morning Helen. Anything happening?" Helen was his secretary and the most efficient person he had ever known. No matter what was happening in the entire company Helen had a finger on it.

"Good morning Avery. Juliette," Helen said. "Lovely to see you, you look great. Rayna asked if she could see you when you got in. Mick is doing the contract for that new Clint guy and wants to know how much you want to pay him as a signing on fee."

"Hmm, I think Twenty thousand," Avery said. "The guy is pretty green and raw. We'll need to send him for some coaching before we can use him. I suppose the bars in the mid-west aren't that encouraging of a quality skill."

"Ok. I'll let him know. That's about all, oh something you might want to have a look at during the day. I know Gunner is having some trouble mixing some stuff for Evan. He might be able to use some help."

"Alright I'll have a look at that later. Could you please ask Glenn and Emily if they can come in around lunch; we need a meeting with them?"

Rayna needing them was a piece of good timing. "Morning Rayna, you wanted to see us? That's going to work well, we need to see you."

"I see, you seem pretty keen," Rayna said. "Perhaps you'd better go first."

"Ok," Avery said. "Now, hold onto your hat. We're getting married four weeks from Saturday and I can tell you we are deliriously happy about it."

"That is absolutely fantastic news." Rayna sprung out of her chair and enthusiastically congratulated them both. "Highway 65's first wedding. Where are you getting married?"

"The West End United Methodist church. It's all set for three in the afternoon," Juliette said. "I wanted to ask you if you would be my matron of honor?"

"Of course I will, I'd love to. So now I'd better give you my news because this no doubt will work in well with your news. Avery we want to give you a raise. Well it's not so much a raise as such but it's a normal way of recognizing outstanding results by executives. My sister and I are delighted with what you have done for us. We also know that an executive with your skills could earn much more with a large corporation. Unfortunately we are not a conglomerate. Our company has limitations but we want to recognize you and do everything we can to keep you in the Highway 65 family. We are transferring a ten percent share holding to you as a measure of our gratitude."

"Rayna, thank you. I'm deeply honored but you never need worry about my loyalty. My main motivation for doing what I do is not money. You will never lose me while I have a say in it. My wife is here. My dearest friends are here. I'm grateful to the people here. Just about everyone, one way or the other, has stood by me in some pretty awkward times. I will never leave. My goal is for this place to go from success to success. It has given me everything I could ask for." He had been holding Juliette's hand since they came in the office and he gave it a gentle squeeze.

"However, there is something I wanted to ask. Juliette has decided to sell her house rather than us live there. Frankly the place has some sad memories for her and we want to start our marriage completely fresh and new. Just Avery and Juliette stuff if you know what I mean."

"Makes perfect sense," Rayna said. "It's a great idea."

"That's what we wanted to talk to you about. We'll need to buy something else and we thought that maybe the executors of your father's estate may wish to liquidate his house. If that's the case we would like to look at the possibility of buying it."

"Now," Rayna said. "That's a very interesting proposition. The executors made that comment just the other day. The house is part of the estate inventory and as such must be sold. However you have given me an interesting idea. There are only two beneficiaries to my father's estate. Myself and my sister Tandy. I know she would like the estate settled as soon as possible. She is only a junior partner in Highway 65 so her income is limited. The good part is, each of us will get many hundreds of millions of dollars when this estate goes through. The house has the potential to hold that up. Can you leave this with me for an hour or so? I need to make a couple of calls."

"Ok," Avery said. "We need to get to the church and finalize the wedding booking. We are also having a meeting with Glenn and Emily about organizing the wedding. We want to do this really right."

"Good idea," Rayna said. "When you come back it might be worth all of us looking into that. I'd like to be involved as well."

They went down to the studio to help Gunnar with his problem. Scarlett was there and while Avery helped Gunnar, Juliette announced the wedding. Gunner was genuinely surprised and delighted when Avery invited him to be groomsman.

"Perhaps this is something you two should think about as well," Avery said. Scarlett blushed. "Perhaps Gunner, Scarlett has already been thinking about it."

Helen had organized the meeting with Glenn and Emily. As it worked out Avery and Juliette had a couple of hours leeway before the meeting.

"We have time to get to the church and complete the arrangements there," Avery said. "I'd also like to see the Minister and apologize that we need to go to Natchez this weekend but we'll see him next week. I want to keep in sweet with him; he does have some friends and influence in high places."

Juliette hit his arm, "Stop it. Behave yourself."

"All I need now is Deacon for my best man."

"He's bound to be floating around somewhere. That shouldn't be difficult," Juliette said.

They met Deacon when they returned to the Highway 65 offices. His delight with their news was obvious. He happily accepted Avery's invitation.

"I have never been as excited and overjoyed. Avery, you are making this the most memorable time of my life. I never thought this would ever happen for me. Over the last couple of days you have turned me into a different person," Juliette said.

"Hey, I'm never going to forget it either. This is for us."

Rayna was talking to Helen when they returned. "I was just looking for you two. We need a little privacy I have a proposition for you."

"Ok," Avery said. "My office should be good enough."

"Now," Rayna explained, "I've spoken to Tandy about this and she agrees with me. I have checked with the executors and they say this is will work and allow for a very quick distribution of the estate. We want to sell daddy's house to you. You get the whole lot, estate, furniture, crockery, cutlery even the bed linen. What you keep, what you change, that's up to you." This is all in. We don't want the hassle. I mean the house is neither here nor there as far as we're concerned. In fact it's better for us if it's 'there' and we never have to worry about it again. Since it's in the inventory it represents value and must be sold. Now in arriving at the final price we did take into consideration both of your contributions particularly when the company was struggling. So we have established that we must ask two thousand dollars for the house."

Avery did a double take. He looked at Juliette. She stared back at him with her mouth open. For a noticeable time he said nothing. Finally he stammered, "Rayna, we couldn't possibly pay that for the house; it's not right."

"Well, I'm sorry Avery but the price is not negotiable. It's not getting any cheaper. But if you're guilty because you think the price is too low; forget it. I promise you we can afford it. Besides this way we are compensating you for what we can afford to pay you and what you are worth to us. Believe me Avery, this is really a shrewd business investment. So, what do you reckon?"

Avery looked at Juliette, "are you happy with that?" She nodded enthusiastically.

"Ok," Avery said. "Sold." Reaching into his jacket pocket he said, "Will you take a check?"

"Sure," Rayna said, "here's the keys. As of now it's yours. The contracts and titles will be ready tomorrow."

Avery slumped back in his chair still uncertain of what just happened.

Emily and Glenn arrived and Avery called them into his office. "This'll be easier," he said to Rayna. "We're all together. We only need to go over this stuff once. Please take a seat Glenn, Emily. Juliette would like to fill you in with the latest news."

Helen, being her usual efficient self, bought in a tray of sandwiches she organized. Avery did ask for a lunch time meeting. No sense in anyone going hungry, she reasoned.

Juliette was beaming, "I am so happy to tell you this. It is something I have dreamed about. Avery and I are getting married four weeks from Saturday. Emily, will you please be my bridesmaid?"

Glenn stood and hugged her, "I am so happy for you baby girl. It's something I've wanted for you for so long. Now it's finally happening."

"Well Glenn, you don't get away that easily," Avery said shaking his hand. "Would you do Juliette the honor of giving her away?"

Glenn smiled proudly, "It would be my pleasure."

Emily as well, "I am so happy for you. You are both meant for each other. I would love to be your bridesmaid."

"So, now to the main business," Avery said, "the reason we got you here is because we wanted to discuss how this wedding should be organized. The service will be in the West End United Methodist Church. Now I only have a general idea of what I would like to happen but this may not be practical. Of course there are many alternatives that may be a lot better. These are only my rough thoughts. I'll freely admit, organizing these types of functions is not really my thing. Juliette may want to get involved. She is good at the big show stuff."

"Well, give us your ideas," Glenn said. "We'll see what we can work out and get back to you."

"First up we don't have a reception venue at this point so you would need to get onto that. After the wedding, I'd like the big motorcade through the city. I'd like to fill LP field with Juliette's fans, for free. I'd like closed circuit television from the service and reception to LP field so the fans can share the party. If we could organize some sort of show for LP field as well that would be great. Give something back to the fans. I would like this to be remembered. I don't know how this would go but I would like every fan to get a piece of cake. Obviously, we would need extra wedding cakes as well as the main one. Basically I would like this to be the biggest wedding extravaganza Nashville has ever seen."

"Well that gives us a place to start," Glenn said. "We'll see how we go. Do your want to set a budget limit?"

"Not at this stage let's just see how it washes out."

"I'd like to be involved. I could have a few contacts we can use for some of this," Rayna said.

"I'm in too," Juliette said and then apologized to Avery. "I guess I might not be around as much for the next few weeks."

"You're coming with me this weekend so I can wear it. After all it's for the best cause…us. You should enjoy it."

"I know you'll make me proud," Avery said to Juliette and gave her a quick kiss. "However right now we have something of the utmost urgency to take care of."

"I know," Juliette said. "We need to pack for the weekend."

"Yes, we need to that as well but my fiancé is getting an engagement ring. That's the highest priority."

"You're engaged and you don't have a ring?" Rayna asked in a tone of disbelief.

"There's been a lot happening is a very short space of time but that omission will be rectified right now," Avery smiled.

He was sparing no expense on Juliette's ring. Juliette actually wanted to pay for the ring herself but he was having none of that. "I can provide for my wife. Your money is no good here." He said.

The ring she had her heart set on was actually priced beyond his savings. 'What the hell,' he thought. 'What are credit cards for? Besides I have royalties coming plus a ten percent Highway 65 dividend due. I'll clear the card then.'

Back at her house he poured them both a glass of Burgundy. They raised their glasses and chinked them together. "Here's to today and to us forever." Avery said. He sat on the couch.

Juliette sat in his lap. She held him around the neck and buried her head into his shoulder. "I have never been so happy. I never dreamed I could feel like this. I never dreamed this would ever happen to me. You have turned me into a new and better person," she said, her voice was slightly muffled by the angle her head was on.

"You nearly have it right," Avery said moving her head and kissing her tenderly. "What you really should have said is, 'We are a better person'. I believe we are meant to be. We illuminate each other, we are a combined destiny. To borrow from Aristotle, the total sum of us together is so much greater than us individually. We are a team and combined we can overcome anything. I believe this in my soul. We need each other, we are meant for each other. Call it what you want, destiny, fate, written in the stars, the will of God. I don't know its name. I just know that it is. In the same manner as the universe is. It can't be touched but it's certainly there."

"You are so clever. Where did you learn this stuff?"

"I'm just speaking the truth, sweetheart."

"I like that name, sweetheart," Juliette said.

"Do you now. I was having a toss up between that and princess."

"Yes! I like that one as well."

"Well, just to let you into a secret, you know how Rayna promotes herself as the queen of country?"

"Yes." Juliette said. "Do you want to promote me as the princess of country?"

"You hit it in one. Queen sounds a little old and staid. But Princess…."

"Sounds young and fresh. You really are clever."

"Well, just keep it up your sleeve. We'll use it after the baby," Avery said.

"Well we sure achieved a lot today," Avery sounded satisfied. "Definitely got the wheels humming. Tomorrow we'll need to take care of the realtor getting this place on the market. When would you like to move into the new place?"

"Next week. There'll be a fair bit to organize there. We're going to need servants with a place that size. We might get Bo to look into that tomorrow."

"I love it," Avery said. "It's all go, go, go, here. There's so much to look forward to."

"Today has been the happiest day of my life. I can see why Rayna values you such a lot. There is so much action around you," Juliette said. "But can I ask you something I really need to know; especially as I will be mixed up in it in a few hours. I'd like to be forewarned."

"You want to know about this business between my father and me?"

"Yes, provided you are ok with telling me."

"Ok. Well, it goes back a long way. Some of it I can do something about. Some is beyond my control. First up, I have never even mentioned this to anyone, but I am a sort of odd man out in my family. For instance, I'm much better academically than anyone else in the family. They were barely able to finish high school. That's the first strange thing. I'm a straight honors student. No member of my family can play a musical instrument. They can't even hold a note singing. I find music very natural."

"That's the understatement of the year. You're a musical freak."

"I always had this feeling that I didn't fit in. My brother and sister were both treated what you would call normally. But I was always treated differently and I felt out of place because of it. I became conscious that my father really disliked me. Any chance he got to punish me he took. I really had a most unhappy childhood. Even bringing home excellent school results didn't help. I was just ridiculed for them. I asked my mother once why my father disliked me and why he bullied and picked on me. Her only answer was 'I was different'. That was it. That was all I got so I just suffered but I swore when I could get out I would."

"My mother and father were married when she became pregnant with my brother, Colin. In those days an unwed mother was an embarrassment to her family. Usually, those concerned got married. A few years later they had my sister Susan. Then there was me. Remember I told you once you can't help where you were born or who you have as a family. We have more in common than you realized. Both our childhoods have similarities."

"I won a full academic scholarship to Ole Miss. I wanted to go for music but my father wouldn't allow me enroll unless I got a business degree. So that's what I did."

"I basically taught myself music in the beginning from books I got at school. My father had an absolute hatred of music. He didn't just dislike it he was obsessed with his aversion to it. Obviously we clashed over this very frequently. He always thought I was insolent, defiant and rebellious. Me? I just wanted to do what I loved."

"Well, to cut a long story short. I went off to University and as part of my gear I took my old Gibson guitar. After I settled in I managed to get a couple of gigs in the area playing in a café and a bar. It worked out good for me, one job paid about fifty bucks a night and the other was forty bucks a night. Along with the pittance my father sent me I got by pretty well. I went to the music faculty and met a guy who was a great guitarist and another guy who was a fantastic pianist. I couldn't enroll there but I got these guys to give me lessons on the side. I kept those up for four years. Each lesson cost me twenty bucks. I started to get pretty handy and they even gave me lessons in songwriting. I often wonder how good I could have become if I'd gone there fulltime."

"In my last year about six months before I was due to graduate I had a once in a lifetime chance for a guy like me. This fraternity kid, money no object, wants to throw a party. His problem is he's broke but he needs to buy some dope. He's trying to sell this guitar for a thousand dollars but he's getting no takers. He comes to me, 'Hey Barkley,' he says. 'You play guitar do you want to buy my Martin?' I tell him I don't have a thousand. 'How much have you got?' he asks. I tell him all I've got is seven hundred but I need to keep a hundred to tide me over till I get my next check. He thinks a bit and takes the six hundred off me. I thought 'Well it's a Martin. Six hundred has to be cheap'. I opened the case and I nearly collapsed. It's a 1957 00-17. It has to be worth three grand if it's worth a razoo. It was an absolutely beautiful guitar. The Gibson disappeared into the closet. That became my pride and joy. I never dreamed I could own a guitar like that."

"Anyway my father had my life planned for me. I would graduate and run his businesses which was absolutely a crap, boring job. The businesses were so regular we knew what the figures would be from one year to the next. I mean the job was so boring my father didn't even want it. So he palms it off on me. It basically consisted of collecting the money and putting it in the bank. He had to vet all payments so I was virtually his slave. We argued all the time. I was just wasting my life."

"My biggest mistake I know, looking back, was playing the guitar. I used to play every chance I got. In my room, on the porch anywhere, and my father hated it. I got myself a Saturday night gig in Natchez playing in the best restaurant. It paid one hundred dollars a night. I was king of the world. However my father found out and banned me from playing. He said I was not going to waste my life on that rubbish. That night my mom and I are watching television when my father takes an axe to my Martin. He came inside and dropped the neck in three pieces in my lap. The strings were still on the machine heads. His only comment, 'try playing that."

Juliette started crying.

"I was shattered. I couldn't believe what he had done. I couldn't speak. I just went up to my room, packed my clothes in a bag, grabbed the Gibson, got in my truck and never went back. My last memory is my father and mother screaming at each other and my father yelling I was nothing, would never amount to anything and I was a complete failure."

"Scarlett was my girlfriend. I went and stayed at her place that night and when I told her I was leaving she came with me. We went to New Orleans first up then just from here to there until we wound up in Nashville. You more or less know it all from there."

Juliette sat up straight in Avery's lap. "Wait here. I'll be right back."

She returned a few minutes later with a guitar case. " I just remembered I have this. I did think it was good enough for Deacon at one point but he wouldn't take it. He said it was too good for him. It's not to good for you. You deserve an instrument of this class. I want you to have this. Please don't refuse me. You have given me so much. If I can repay you in some small way I'll be very happy. Whenever you play this; think of us."

He opened the case. Inside was a 1968 Martin D45. "Juliette," was all he could say. Then after a long pause, "this guitar will be with me forever. I will treasure it always. I truly love you so much." He lay the guitar back in it's case, took her in his arms and embraced her with all the feeling in his heart.

"I suppose you do know what this is worth," he said when they parted. "I don't want you to think it's just any old guitar."

"I know," she said. "It's somewhere between forty and fifty thousand dollars."

"I love you so much and I love your generosity."

"The agenda isn't too full today," Avery said checking his Friday to do list. "We need to be here at ten for the realtor. Then we can go into the office and finalize the house. I reckon I'd like to go and have a look at the new place as well. I'd like to have something for us to talk about during the trip. Perhaps we might even leave this afternoon and get there tonight. We may need the extra time. I'll ring and let them know."

"I've just had a thought. I'm going to take some photographs of your house, the new house and the Highway 65 offices. I may need a plan 'B' for my father. It wouldn't hurt to have something to fall back on. These might be handy for some extra leverage because I know he's not going to be easy."

The Realtor gave Juliette a pleasant surprise. The expected price would realize Juliette a profit of half a million dollars in just one year.

However their new house left them awestruck. Avery had no idea houses like this existed. This was a three story mansion comprising ten bedrooms and twelve bathrooms. The house area was almost twenty five thousand square feet, with four acres of gardens. It had every conceivable luxury including its own theatre and English billiard room with an imported twelve foot English table.

They sat in one of the sitting rooms and just absorbed the ambiance of the property. "You know," Avery said. "I don't want you getting the wrong idea here and I don't want to sound like I'm getting ahead of myself. However, I think if we decided we wanted to raise more than one child here we would have the room."

"You think so do you? Well just so happens that idea appeals to me as well but let's get number one out the way first."

"No wonder they thought selling this would hold up the estate going through.' Avery said. "I don't reckon there'd be much change out of ten million for this place. Buyers in that end of the market aren't exactly falling out of the woodwork."

"There's something else we mustn't forget to allow for," he said. "A staff to maintain all this," he waved an arm over the general area. "At the very least we'll need a cook, a gardener and a couple of cleaning maids. Depending on your plans we may need a nanny as well. I'm assuming you'll want to continue working. I expect we'll continue to write and play together. I dare say you'll want me as your producer as well."

"Yes to all of that. I want the best partner I can find and we both know that's you. I want you exclusively. You'd better let Rayna know that."

"Well, you know what they say," Avery laughed. "You're the doctor, I only work here." Then he added, "I defer to the boss."

The trip to Natchez became more exciting the further they went. It was not the prospect of Natchez. That would be difficult. No, what they were so enthusiastic about was their future together and the plans that were falling into place. Dreams were being created here and dreams were coming true.

They arrived just before dinner. Avery's father met them on the front porch. "You have a damned audacity turning up here after all this time. I would have thought you'd be too ashamed."

"For god's sake dad, can't you at least wait until we're in the door," Avery chipped.

"Who's this then?" Avery's father gestured towards Juliette.

"Let's get inside," Avery said. "We'll go through the formalities with everyone if it's all the same to you."

"Everyone," Avery said addressing the family. "This is Juliette. Juliette this is my father, Frank, my mother Elaine, my brother Colin and my sister Susan. Just to fill everyone in…"

"Just a minute," Frank said. "I know who you are. You're my son's meal ticket. You're Juliette Barnes. What are you bringing her into our house for? She's all over the papers. "She's a…"

"That's enough right there." Avery attacked him. "You will not say another word. You don't have any idea what you're talking about. If you think what you read in the papers is true then you're as stupid as the liars and idiots what write them. Everything you read about her is a manipulated lie. They attack her because she has a high profile and by degrading her they sell papers to fools like you who buy them. You will not talk like that about her. She is my fiancée, we are getting married in four weeks and just to give you all our news she is carrying the family's first grandchild. She is a part of this family and I demand she is respected as such."

"I must clear something up here if I may," Juliette said. "I am not your son's meal ticket. He's my meal ticket. I could never have achieved what I have without him. I love and admire him with all my heart."

Frank just grunted.

Elaine went to Juliette and embraced her. "You are welcome as part of this family my dear. My son's choice is our choice. Our first grandchild. Thank you with all my heart. This is wonderful news."

"Colin and Susan both embraced Juliette as well."

"She's pregnant and you're not married?" Frank sounded somewhat disgusted.

"Shut it for Pete's sake dad," Avery said. "We're extremely proud and we're looking forward to our baby."

"Besides," Colin said. "Everyone knows mom was four months pregnant with me when you married."

"Watch your mouth," Frank snapped. Colin cowered back in his chair.

"Come on," Elaine said. "Let's have dinner."

The meal was spent on Avery catching up on the latest news. Colin was doing the job his father had intended for Avery. It seemed Colin was born to do this job. Basically he was in charge of everything but running nothing. Frank had control of any important issues except the day to day operation. As Avery had observed, Frank avoided the boredom; that was Colin's domain. But Colin enjoyed the position. He had just the right measure of intelligence to excel at the job.

Avery actually said little during the meal. He didn't have to. Juliette was painting him in the most glowing terms. "Do you know," Juliette said, "Avery is Highway 65's CEO and under him the company just received a Nashville Chamber of Commerce award as the fastest growing company in Nashville. Avery was voted Executive of the Year. He is so respected not only in his own company but in the wider community. The community work he does; Charity Fund raisers he organizes. He is amazing."

"Yeah," Frank said, "he wasn't good enough to do that here. But his brother handles it well. I guess that means Colin would be a big hit in Nashville as well."

That was when Avery became involved. "You never stop do you Dad. You can never let it alone. You just have to keep digging. Keep aggravating the issue. Keep needling and punishing me. You've been doing it all my life. That's why this family has this huge split through it. You just won't stop. Well I'm here to fix it now, this weekend. You and me, we are going to sort out whatever this crap is that's eating you. Why you have made my life a misery since I was a little kid. Now we fix it or finish it.

"Why? You ask me? I have never once seen respect in you. Even now I see defiance in your eyes. I see rebellion. No matter what I asked you fought me at every turn. You could have had Colin's job but you turned your back on it."

'Yes, that was your trouble. You planned out my life and then expected me to live it. I had plans of my own. I didn't want Colin's job. I didn't want to study business at Ole Miss. I wanted to study music. But that didn't fit your plan for me. My life's love was music and you forbid me to follow it. Even playing music in my room was forbidden. Then you destroyed my prized guitar. You knew what you were doing but you still went ahead. That was the cruelest thing that has ever been done to me. I knew then, you didn't have a heart, at least where I was concerned. No, you had a rock in your chest and there was no hope for me and you. That's why I left."

"You were wasting your life. There's no future in music. It's a fool's pursuit. It just leads to drugs, dope and drunkenness. I wanted to protect you from all that."

"You say you saw defiance and insolence in my eyes. What you saw was independence, a dream to achieve. There was no insolence there. You were determined I live my life as you designed it. When I refused you punished me the worst way you could think of. Have you changed father? Have you mellowed? It's been years now. Can we be a normal father and son?"

"Can you ask my forgiveness?" Frank said. "Will you come back to Natchez and do what you were meant to do? Do that and I can forgive you. Continue to defy me and you are lost to me."

"I'm begging you," Avery pleaded. "We are getting married in four weeks. We want you all there. We want all my relations there. No-one will come while we have this conflict. It makes them too uncomfortable. What of your grandchild. We want to come down here so they know their grandparents. We want you to visit us. If this isn't resolved that will never happen and that will be tragic."

Juliette held Avery's hand trying to show support. She could see now why he had avoided coming here. She could see he was close to defeat. He had hope his father would see reason but it was not going to happen. She could see he was resigning himself to losing his family and that meant the only family Juliette would ever have as well.

"Mr. Barkley," Juliette said. "I want you to look at something. The house in this photograph; this is Avery's home in Nashville. He owns it outright. It's worth about ten million dollars. It needs a staff of five to run it. This is where we are going to live. The office in this photograph is Avery's office at Highway 65. Look at the awards all over the walls. He is one of the most successful executives in our industry and you want him to turn his back on that?"

"You can be quiet woman. I have even less respect for you than I do for him."

That immediately fired Avery's anger. "What is it with you? There is something seriously wrong here. This has got to the point of being ridiculous. I'm missing something. Something here is not adding up. What is it? There is something else at work here." He was desperate. He had tears on his cheeks. His anguish affected Juliette as well. Again she took his hand and held it to her breast.

Suddenly Elaine interjected. "This has gone on long enough Frank. Are you going to tell him or will I? We are coming clean with this right now. I miss my son. I want him back. I want my daughter in law. I want my grandchild. This finishes now."

Frank glared at her. "You're not bringing that up. We agreed years ago that would never be mentioned. Do not add further disgrace to us. You will be quiet!" At the end he was virtually shouting.

This was completely unexpected. Avery was at first confused and then he realized the core of this family issue was some dark, buried, shameful secret. His father was seething, his mother stood defiantly in front of him. His father raised his hand. "No! Stop! Dad! No!" Colin and Avery shouted together. Avery lunged, forcing himself between his father and mother.

His father's shoulders slumped. This was about to be revealed. He had to resign himself to it. Hidden for years, now they would all know his shame. "I'm not staying to listen to this," he said. "I'm disgusted with you Elaine." He walked out the door.

Elaine looked at Avery. "You want to know why? Why your life has been like it has? Why your father punished you as he did? I'll tell you although I don't know what good it will do you. I have no idea how this can be resolved. But I'll at least tell you so your mind can rest easy."

"Long before I met your father, in my senior year in high school I had a boyfriend. His name was Mark Holbrook. Today he is one of the leading cardiac experts in the country. Back in High school he was the school's top student. He returned honors for everything. He was also a very talented musician. He was not just my boyfriend, we had become extremely close. We were lovers and very active as well. However we were very careful even in those days."

"We graduated from high school and he received a medical scholarship to Columbia. Of course we didn't see a lot of each other. However he had his family in Natchez so he did come back here periodically. Whenever he came back we would always spend time together and always we fell back into our old habits, if you know what I mean."

"I started seeing your father in between his visits and before long I became pregnant with Colin and married your father. In those days that's what was done in the event of a pregnancy outside marriage. Eighteen months later Susan came along."

I would still see Mark whenever he came home but our sexual activity stopped since I was married. To see him I would sneak out of an evening on some pretext or other. Eventually your father became suspicious and followed me. This caused a lot of strife naturally."

"Since we had been found out we had to sever all contact. I snuck out one last time to see Mark and say goodbye. It was a very emotional time for both of us. It became so intense we fell on the ground and made love. Unfortunately we had no protection but that didn't stop us. That night I became pregnant with you Avery."

"Your father of course knew Mark was in Natchez and when it was obvious I was pregnant he made me do a paternity test. This of course confirmed Frank was not your father. In those days abortions were virtually impossible to get unless there was a health threat. However even though the idea was suggested I just flatly refused. You would be carried through to full term."

"Your father wanted to divorce me however he found out that if I was divorced Mark would marry me and take you as well Avery. Frank would need to raise Colin and Susan. I could not leave two of my children and I think to punish me in any case your father refused a divorce. That is why he hates you Avery. Looking at you reminds him of that. I don't know what you can do with that but at least you know."

Avery was very quiet. He looked at Juliette remembering how they had been in a similar position and how they had overcome their conflict. He took her hand and gently kissed it. He would be forever grateful for the woman she is. He loved her dearly.

He stood and went outside looking for his father. Frank was sitting in a chair on the front porch, sitting in the dark. The sounds of the night were everywhere. Avery sat in the other empty chair on the porch and bent forward resting his elbows on his knees. For a long while they said nothing.

Eventually, to ease the obvious tension, Avery just said, "Dad."

"Well?" Frank replied.

"There is nothing I can do Dad. I'm sorry for what happened. I'm sorry I was the result of what happened. We came here today in the hope these differences between us could be resolved. I can see why everything has been like it has. This is the worst possible result for me. I cannot resolve this. But I want you to know one thing. No matter what happened, as far as I am concerned, you are my father. Biological or not, that is of no consequence. Really in the overall scheme of things what mom did and she did it when she was young and foolish, doesn't matter. It never broke us apart because there is strength in this family. We have skeletons in the closet, like just about everyone, but we are still us. A family and you are my father. For all the anger I felt for you for all those years of torment I now understand and I forgive you. I love you Dad and I wish we could be together. All I can hope is somewhere, at sometime you can find forgiveness as well."

"We'll leave first thing in the morning but know that you are all welcome with us at anytime and we will still regard you all as our family."

The drive back to Nashville was a little somber. For the early part of trip they rehashed the events of the previous night. "Hopefully," Juliette said, "They can find a solution. We are so lucky to have a love like we do."

Later they discussed moving houses, items to keep, what to discard. It was a much brighter atmosphere but the mood of the previous evening still hung over Avery. It would take time to adjust to this.

It was a week later and the wedding planning was becoming very involved. What seemed initially to Avery as a relatively straight forward exercise had pitfalls everywhere. Teddy had arranged for LP field but that was the easy part. The wedding would need to be advertised so the fans knew about it. Then the fans would need to be organized. They decided admission would be by ticket. Then the ticket agency had to be organized and they wanted to charge a ticketing fee. That would need to be allowed for if the fans were to get in for free. There was far more in this than he thought. He was meeting with Juliette, Glenn and Emily over these very matters when Helen interrupted.

"Avery. There's a Mr. and Mrs. Barkley here to see you if you are free."

To say Avery was surprised was an understatement. "Send them in thank you Helen. Glenn, Emily could you give us a moment?"

"This is so impressive son," his father said entering his office. He went directly to Avery and embraced him. He immediately took Juliette in his arms, "Juliette, I am so pleased you're here as well." They shared similar embraces with his mother.

"It's so good to see you both. We won't hold you up son but I wanted to let you know I took your advice. You were right. Forgiveness fixes everything. We are all good now, all of us. We will be coming to the wedding. Also, we were hoping we could get together tonight to see if there were any others from Natchez you would like here."

Both Juliette and Avery gave him a huge smile. "That would be fantastic Dad. If you come past here at about four Juliette can show you where we live. I'll ring the cook and let him know there will be two more for dinner."


End file.
